Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1569

Clang!

Kim Myung-chan slammed Go Han-bong to the floor. Then, he began to strike Go Han-bong’s face with both hands.

‘Senior, what are you doing! Senior!’

‘Aaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaah! What do you know! What do you know! Aaaaaaaah!’

His eyes, bloodshot and red, glared at Go Han-bong. The saliva dripping from his mouth and his trembling hands showed how much pain Kim Myung-chan was in.

Go Han-bong bit his lip.

It didn’t hurt.

He couldn’t feel any strength.

Even as the hands struck his face, it felt like being hit by a kindergartener.

A feeling of sorrow and sadness welled up in his throat.

‘Prime Minister! The door! Open the door, now!’

‘Don’t come in, you bastards!’ Go Han-bong yelled.

‘P, Prime Minister?’

‘I told you not to approach, which bastard went all the way there on their own! Do you all want to die? Is my word a joke to you?’

‘N, no, Prime Minister. I will return to my post.’

‘Get lost!’

‘Yes!’

As the guards quickly retreated, Kim Myung-chan chuckled.

‘Heh heh heh, even that tiny bit of power is still power, isn’t it?’

‘…Senior.’

Kim Myung-chan got up. Then, he slowly walked back and leaned against the wall again.

‘See, you’re no different. People learn by being on the receiving end. Look here, we know, don’t we? We’ve learned enough already. How to speak to scare people the most, how to torment them the most. We know, don’t we? We know too well.’

Go Han-bong bit his lip.

‘We are both their adversaries and their successors. We are the ones who know their ways best. So, I end up using them without realizing it. Just like you are now.’

Kim Myung-chan chuckled.

‘It was nothing. I was nothing. Kim Myung-chan didn’t exist. There was only a wrapper with the name Kim Myung-chan.

Once that wrapper is peeled off, nothing is left but an old body. Pathetic, vile, and worthless.’

Self-deprecation.

It was a self-deprecation so deep that it was impossible to even attempt to comfort him.

‘Look here.’

‘Yes… Senior.’

‘Do I seem crazy?’

Go Han-bong shook his head.

‘No. You’re not crazy, Senior. I can see that.’

‘Right. It would have been easier if I could have gone crazy. But… but I can’t even go crazy. This is the price of my sins. A fox pretending to be a tiger, wearing a shell that was too big for it, will be torn to pieces when a real tiger appears.’

Kim Myung-chan let out a low laugh.

‘We are not democracy fighters.’

‘We are reactionaries. If you and I were born now, we would have resisted the current regime. If we were born in North Korea, we would have been thought criminals, and if we were born in the United States, we would have been political prisoners.’

Go Han-bong couldn’t say anything.

‘Don’t misunderstand. I’m not denying the democracy movement. Our comrades who fought with us back then were truly dazzling. They endured everything with only the will to serve the country. But not me. Not you either. We are just reactionaries. We are just petty people who can’t tolerate anyone else having power.’

‘I…’

Go Han-bong opened and closed his mouth several times.

Could he deny it?

He could.

But denying it in front of Kim Myung-chan now was meaningless. Those transparent eyes were piercing through him.

‘Don’t resist. Don’t make trouble, and never think about provoking him.’

‘Is that possible?’

‘Haven’t you already answered that? Do you feel jealous of the Prime Minister of Japan?’

‘……Yes?’

‘You don’t feel anything for land that isn’t yours, for a country that isn’t yours. The reason you hate Kang Jin-ho so much is because you think he took what you were supposed to have.’

‘What I was supposed to have…’

‘South Korea.’

‘It could be anything. It could be land, wealth, or even a concept. It’s probably a complex mix of things that can’t be defined. Anyway, that’s what bothers you, isn’t it?’

Kim Myung-chan leaned slightly forward.

‘Don’t do anything stupid.’

Go Han-bong’s body trembled.

‘It was never yours from the beginning. It’s not even this country’s. It was theirs from the beginning, no, his. He doesn’t covet anything else. But the moment someone touches what’s his, he changes. Don’t provoke a gentle person and turn him into a devil. Do you understand?’

Go Han-bong slowly nodded.

‘The way to live with a lion in the same house is very simple. Make the lion full. If you make him so full that he doesn’t even care about old, tough meat like me, then you might get your bones broken by his playful paws, but you won’t get eaten.’

‘He’s a lion.’

Kim Myung-chan’s eyes glazed over.

His eyes, looking up at the ceiling, lost focus.

‘No, he’s more like a devil than a lion. He’s a truly terrifying person.’

‘I know.’

‘No, you don’t.’

Kim Myung-chan’s voice grew lower.

‘The abyss is bottomless. It looks no different on the surface. Only those who have thrown themselves into the abyss to see its end know how deep it is.’

Kim Myung-chan smiled sadly.

‘I’m still falling.’

‘Into a place where I can’t see the end. Falling, falling, and falling… I still haven’t reached the bottom. Still, still not there… Still! Still!’

The voice that started like a tremor ended in a shriek.

Go Han-bong felt as if his soul was being sucked out by that mad voice.

‘Don’t come here…’

‘Senior!’

‘Don’t come here. Don’t make me someone who finds comfort in seeing others die with me. Don’t make me think that it would be nice if you fell into this hell with me so you could understand me. Don’t make me more pathetic. Please…’

He had to go mad.

This man had to either go mad or die.

Because he was alive, this man was losing everything.

The achievements that had sustained him, his pride… now nothing remained.

All that was left was a shell, even his soul taken away.

That miserable sight seemed to tear at Go Han-bong’s heart.

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to wail and sob.

But could he do that?

Would crying for a man who was still alive and well be comforting to him?

To Kim Myung-chan, that would be mockery and torment. Cheap pity had no place here.

‘Go back now.’

‘Don’t ever come here again. The Kim Myung-chan you knew is already gone. No, he never existed. We just thought what we wanted to think, and believed what we wanted to believe. We just didn’t think of ourselves as such insignificant beings.’

Kim Myung-chan let out a self-deprecating laugh.

‘Go back.’

‘Senior…’

‘Please.’

Kim Myung-chan covered his face with both hands.

‘I can’t look. Seeing you reminds me of the past, and I can’t bear it. I don’t want to see or hear anything anymore. If I could escape by dying, I would have died many times over. So… please stop tormenting me and go back. Please.’

Go Han-bong, watching Kim Myung-chan sobbing with his face covered, bit his lip hard.

His lower lip burst, and blood trickled down.

‘Don’t resist. Please, don’t go against him… He’s impossible. He’s the only one you can’t. Please, don’t follow in my footsteps. Just wait until he’s gone! You idiot! You endured and persevered so well during the military regime, where did that patience go! Did you think you were something just because you got some money and people called you Prime Minister?’

Go Han-bong prostrated himself on the spot.

‘No, Senior!’

‘…Endure, until the end. There’s only one way to deal with the strong. Survive until the end and prove that you were stronger.’

Kim Myung-chan’s voice calmed down.

‘I couldn’t do it, but you can.’

‘Yes. I will.’

‘Go back now. It was nice meeting you. Don’t come here again.’

Go Han-bong got up and bowed to Kim Myung-chan.

Then, after staring at the ceiling for a long time, Go Han-bong turned and opened the door.

Clang!

Hearing the sharp sound of the metal door closing, Go Han-bong leaned against the door and covered his face.

‘P, Prime Minister, are you alright?’

He could see the prison warden running towards him, sweating profusely. In contrast to Kim Myung-chan, his protruding belly kept catching his eye.

‘This way.’

‘Yes?’

‘This way.’

Go Han-bong grabbed the prison warden’s shoulder and moved away from Kim Myung-chan’s cell. Once they were far enough away that the sound couldn’t be heard,

Go Han-bong kicked the prison warden in the shin.

‘Ugh! Aaaah!’

‘Why is the prison so dirty, you incompetent bastard! Why is the former Prime Minister’s cell so filthy! Do you want to die?’

‘P, Prime Minister, the cleaning of the cells is basically the responsibility of the inmates…’

‘What?’

‘Ah, no, it’s nothing. I will manage it. I was negligent.’

‘You!’

Go Han-bong kicked the prison warden in the shin again.

As the prison warden rolled on the floor clutching his shin, Go Han-bong seemed to finally feel relieved and dusted off his hands.

‘Ignorant fools.’

Go Han-bong bit his lip.

He knew it wasn’t the prison warden’s fault. But he couldn’t endure it without releasing this anger.

‘Kang Jin-ho.’

Go Han-bong took a deep breath.

Resentment?

There was no way he could have that.

He had just seen and heard. How Kim Myung-chan was doing, and what he was going through. That was how he could decide his own direction.

‘Huuuuuuu.’

Go Han-bong, exhaling deeply, grabbed the metal bars with one hand.

‘It helped.’

It was good that he came.

Otherwise, he might have ended up in the cell next to Kim Myung-chan. That would have been a punishment worse than death.

‘I…’

Go Han-bong, twisting his lips as if he had made a decision, lowered his head.

Go Han-bong, taking out the cell phone in his pocket, looked at the number on the cell phone screen with a slightly puzzled look.

‘Who is it?’

There shouldn’t be many people who know this number?

Go Han-bong tilted his head once and answered the phone.

‘I’ve changed my phone.’

In case it was a wrong number, he didn’t reveal his identity. But Go Han-bong soon realized that such a thought was meaningless.

[It’s an honor to call you, Prime Minister. I’m Lee Hyun-soo, the head of the General Assembly. Have you heard of me?]

Go Han-bong’s face turned pale in an instant.